them he also glorified vers 29 30. i. e. And it is not onely true that God will convert these sufferings which now befall us into a means of our inestimable advantage but we are to consider also that those whom God fore-knew or fore-approved for his Children were fore-appointed to sufferings that in this respect also we might be like our elder Brother Christ Jesus who hath shewn us this way of coming to the joy that is set before us wherefore we are not to wonder if we be called to actual sufferings now upon our undergoing of which with faith and patience God will justifie and own us for sincere persons and reward us eternally What shall we say then to these things If God be for us who can be against us vers 31. c. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword As it is written For thy sake are we killed c. vers 35. Nay in all these things which through the divine disposition tend to our good we are more than Conquerours vers 37. c. This is the second argument used by the Apostle viz. the profitableness of afflictions themselves to them that love God which is fully express'd vers 28. and vehemently urged to the end of the Chapter But the Apostle makes way for this argument by what he saith vers 26 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray for as we ought c. For it is plain by those words likewise also that he was now offering to them a further consideration having just before concluded that motive to patience from the Deliverance and Glory which they hoped for And that which he proceeds to shew is the mistake of thinking that it were at least better for the present to be exempted from these sufferings since in matters of this nature we know not what to pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us that we may have what is best and then if sufferings befall us we know they are most profitable for us and consequently that all things work together for good c. Now by this time I think it is very plain that the supposition upon which the Fathers went restraining the ignorance of what we are to pray for to the matter of present afflictions is not onely coherent with the designe of the Apostle in this place but that the context does indeed require it I shall onely adde that the words themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do properly signifie the Spirit relieveth us under our afflictions for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated infirmity is very frequently used in the New Testament to signifie Misery and Distress To conclude therefore if with Origen St. Ambrose and Dr. Hammond you suppose the intercession of the Spirit to be understood in the proper sence the Text may be thus paraphrased The Gospel of Christ affords us this relief against impatience under afflictions that whereas we know not whether Afflictions or Deliverance and Ease be best for us at present and consequently as to these respects know not what to pray for in particular the Spirit of Christ himself intercedes for us with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unuttered groanings i. e. earnestly and powerfully for by an inexpressible desire we commonly understand one that is vehement And God who searcheth our Hearts and understands that we do sometimes desire such things as tend not to our advantage knoweth also what the Spirit intercedes for and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he requests in our behalf better things for us than we do for our selves for we are ever ready to desire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such things as seem best to man but he asks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what God knows to be best for us But if with St. Austin and the rest we understand by the intercession of the Spirit his making us to intercede for our selves as we may without swerving in the least from the main scope of the Text or excluding the former sence then the words admit of this Paraphrase Whereas when we pray for deliverance from affliction we know not whether it be best for us to have our desire granted the Holy Spirit inclines us to an entire submission of our selves to the divine Will and together with our most earnest prayers of that kinde there is all along mingled that secret and more vehement desire of what God seeth best for us which is a grace of the Holy Spirit whereby the forwardness of our Appetites after the ease and comforts of this world is corrected and governed Now though this earnest request be not uttered the particular matter of it being not yet known since we are ignorant what will be most profitable for us yet he that searcheth the Heart understands it perfectly and knows that we vehemently desire not so much that deliverance or worldly advantage which is the matter of our uttered groans and Prayers as that good which the Spirit moveth us to pray for and which we cannot particularly utter that namely which God seeth best for us This indeed is a desire of the Heart which proceeds from a divine cause and God is so pleased with it that he will not fail to grant it so that if afflictions continue we know they shall work together for good c. And thus the Holy Spirit relieveth us under our infirmities and distresses by bringing all our worldly appetites under submission to the pleasure of divine Wisdom and Goodness And thus much for the interpretation of this Text which I have been the more careful in considering because it is perpetually produced to justifie the pretences of those men that ascribe their extemporary inventions and contrivances in Prayer to the suggestion of the Spirit of God and make it little less than Blasphemy for any man to contradict them I have by good Authorities and by the scope of the place and by the importance of the words themselves clearly shewn that it belongs to another very distinct matter and is consequently incapable of being made use of for their purpose And now whether he that useth pious Forms of prayer be not capable of that relief from the Spirit which is here mentioned ◠leave it to every sober Reader to judge but will not so far question his understanding or presume upon his patience as to help him any further to do it Thus have I at last considered those places of Scripture which are commonly alledged in favour of those three pretended gifts of the Spirit which I shewed before were not contained under the general promise of the Holy Spirit Luke 11.13 Amongst many other reasons inducing me to this work I shall mention but these two 1. To vindicate the Holy Spirit from those dishonours that are daily done to him either while wicked and unrighteous men attribute their confidence that they are personally
speaks of we agree that those Doctrines which were to be known by his Revelation are meant But this by the by it is however clear that our Saviour challengeth the Jews of unreasonable incredulity for disbelieving what was sufficiently testified and proved to them 2. Christ assigneth the true cause of their unbelief This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil vers 19. i. e. The truth of that Doctrine which I bring is so bright and clear that the cause why men believe it not is not because they want Reason and Argument to induce them thereunto or supposing that our Saviour means himself by Light it is so evident that I am the Son God that if you do not perceive it 't is not for want of means of Conviction but because your deeds are evil because my Doctrine is so contrary to your Lusts and Vices that you are not willing it shoud be true and so you do not attend to the evidence of its truth and therefore greater shall be your Condemnation Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth the truth that is sincerely disposed to do whatever is the will of God cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest is not unwilling to have his actions proved that they are wrought of God whether they be according to the Will of God or not I think it is thus sufficiently plain that the scope of our Saviour in this his discourse to Nicodemus is to shew the necessity of coming to him or believing in him i. e. of being his Disciple in order to everlasting Salvation and to convince those of unreasonable obstinacy and incredulity who would not be his Disciples It is therefore plain that supposing the true Disciple of Christ is to be understood by the Regenerate man then the beginning of our Saviour's discourse concerning the necessity of Regeneration is consonant to his plain designe which was to shew why we must be his Disciples and how inexcusable we are if we be not But that the connexion of the whole may be clearly seen I shall here subjoyn a Paraphrase of that part of it which concerns Regeneration proceeding upon our notion of it It is probable as Grotius observes that after Nicodemus had acknowledged our Saviour to be sent from God he asked him what Qualifications a man must have to see the Kingdom of God which in his preaching he had made so much mention of To which question our Saviour's answer was Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God as if he had said No man can enter into the Kingdom of God except he become my Disciple which you seem unwilling to be because you come secretly to me for fear of the Jews but I tell you it is not sufficient for you to acknowledge to me that I am a Teacher sent from God but withal you must become one of my Disciples and own your self so to be though you forfeit thereby the honour you have in the Jewish State for you must forsake all to follow me Nicodemus not understanding this to be our Saviour's meaning replies as if it was required that a man should be born again in the literal and proper sence How can a man be born when he is old as I am can he c. Jesus answered Verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God q. d. It is not such a Birth that I mean but that of Water and the Spirit you must be born of Water you must by Baptism become a professed Disciple of mine whom you acknowledge to be a Teacher sent from God and this is not all you must be born of the Spirit too it is equally necessary that by the Operations of the Holy Spirit the promise whereof is part of my Doctrine you become obedient in Heart and Life to those Laws which I deliver which are so holy and divine that they are hated by them whose deeds are evil who will not be perswaded to leave their sins vers 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit That which is born in the literal sence as when an Infant is born of his Mother is discernible to your eyes and the change made thereby is evident to your grosser Senses it is not this change which I mean but I say you must be born of the Spirit and it is a spiritual change that I mean thereby viz. that of the Dispositions of mens Hearts and the manner of their Lives which change together with those Operations of the Spirit whereby it is produced are not discernible the same way in which the natural Birth is vers 7 8. Marvel not that I said unto thee Ye must be Born again The Wind bloweth where it lifteth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of Spirit By this it should seem that which was most troublesom to Nicodemus to understand was this viz. How a man could be born of the Spirit and that the difficulty which he stuck at in this matter was the Imperceptibleness of that Operation of the Spirit whereby this change was produced for how should a man know when he is born of the Spirit This being supposed our Saviour's answer to him removes the doubt for it shews 1. That the Operations of the Spirit though they are not perceptible to the Senses yet they may be otherways known to this purpose he useth a familiar similitude to explain himself by viz. that of the Wind which blowes hither and thither but is not discernible to the eye and though we see it not yet we are sure there is such a thing because we hear it Now as every Body is to be judged of by its proper Sense so is every thing to be judged of by its proper faculty and as we do not deny the existence of some Bodies because they are not evident to one sense if they are evident to another so we are not to deny the existence of some things because they are not evident to our Senses if they be evident to our Mindes as the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes may be 2. Our Saviour's answer shews that we may know an effect the immediate cause whereof we do not know and that by the same Similitude of the Wind the natural cause whereof the generality of men who are yet sure there is such a thing are ignorant of Now in like manner we may perceive or feel an effect in our mindes viz. that change which the Spirit makes there though we do not perceive and in that sence do not know the Operations of the Spirit themselves which are the causes
of that change And as that original or cause of that change is not perceived by us as we know not whence the Wind cometh so the end of it is not perceived by us neither for that is eternal Life which yet we do not see as we know not whither the Wind goeth but onely believe 3. Our Saviour's Similitude likewise shews that a thing may be discoverable onely by its effects as the Wind is by the noise it maketh and other effects thereof so likewise the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes though they are not in themselves perceivable by us yet in their effects they are for if Christian Virtue and Piety cannot be attained or preserved without the Operations of the Holy Spirit then where there is this change in a mans state there we are sure have been and still are the Operations of the Spirit and though he doth not feel the cause it self yet he discovers it in its effects Dr. Owen indeed tells us that the Work it self is discoverable in its Causes and brings this very Text to prove his saying which proves the contrary 'T is true we know that the Spirit of God is the cause of this change but how not by the Work it self but by the Revelation of Christ who withal hath informed us that we have no other way to discern the Operations of the Spirit in us but by their effects i. e. those alterations that are thereby produced in our Hearts and Lives Thus then we may understand our Saviour's words Let not this startle you that the Operations of the Holy Spirit whereby you must be changed and as it were born again are not discernible and sensible for though you cannot feel them yet you may understand them by the effects and alterations in you that are caused by them Now whereas Nicodemus answered How can these things be I suppose the reason of his Hesitation was either 1. That he did not understand this to be our Saviour's meaning or 2. That he thought as Dr. Owen does that to be born again was too Hyperbolical an expression of that which he now perceived our Saviour meant by it I cannot positively say which it was But suppose whether you will our Saviour's Reply to him rebuked his Ignorance either way Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things vers 10. q. d. Art thou one of the Great Council a learned Jew and yet ignorant of these matters Do you not perceive that I speak to you of the necessity of becoming my Disciple in such language as any man who is vers'd in your Customs and in the Writings of the Prophets may easily understand Is not being born again that very phrase whereby you express the making of a Proselyte Is not washing one of the Ceremonies whereby a Proselyte is made amongst you and therefore when I tell you a man must be born of Water what should you think I mean but that he must become my Disciple by Baptism I have also told you that he must be born of the Spirit too and can you be ignorant that those Prophecies which speak of the days of the Messias do mention the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon the Hearts of men which shall then be liberally bestowed upon the Subjects of his Kingdom to make them good and holy persons viz. that God will circumcise the Hearts of his people that he will take away their Heart of stone and give them an Heart of flesh with his Law written in it that they may be the true Disciples of the Messias that Prophet to whom you are to hearken in all things I say unto thee We speak that we do know and testifie that we have seen and ye receive not our testimony vers 11. Now I am that Prophet but how credible soever that testimony is which is given hereof ye regard it not If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things vers 12. This last is a place of some difficulty for although by heavenly things are meant Doctrines which were to be known by the Revelation of Christ yet by those earthly things which our Saviour had told Nicodemus already we must not understand truths merely natural for that Jesus was the Messias that it was necessary for the Jews to become his Disciples by Baptism and to be born of the Spirit which none but his Disciples could be these were heavenly Doctrines too in this sence that they were knowable onely by Revelation Wherefore I conceive that by heavenly things here may probably be meant such revealed Doctrines as were most contrary to the worldly and sensual expectations of the Jews who had long cherished in themselves the notion of a Messias who should fight their Battels for them as their other Saviours and Deliverers had done and rescue them from the Roman Power Now these Doctrines were that Christ should be delivered into the hands of the Romans and be Crucified for the sins of the World that those who believed in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Divers Considerations make it probable that these are the heavenly things meant by our Saviour in this place for 1. After he had made way for it by telling Nicodemus that he onely ascended up into Heaven i. e. knew the secret purposes of God concerning the way of Salvation he falls upon the mention of that Death which he was to undergo for the sins of the World And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in c. 2. The Cross of Christ was that which made the Jews most of all offended that his Disciples should still pretend him to be the Christ. It was to the Jews a Stumbling-block and to the Greeks Foolishness and therefore it is probable this was the thing which the Jews would hardly believe viz. that God would save Mankinde by the death of his Son 3. When St. Peter rebuked our Saviour foretelling his own Passion he said unto Peter Get thee behinde me Satan for thou savourest not the things that be of God or heavenly things i. e. the wisdom of God's way to save the World but the things that be of man thou speakest according to the imaginations of the Jews who perswade themselves that the Kingdom of the Messias will be of this World Lay all these things together and it will appear probable that by those heavenly things which our Saviour intimated would be more difficulty believed by the Jews than those which he had already mentioned to Nicodemus are meant his Sufferings and Death by which Believers should be saved and which he discoursed to Nicodemus of presently after And then by the earthly things on the other hand we are to understand those truths which were indeed divinely revealed but were not so contrary to the worldly expectations of the Jews as the other viz. that Jesus was the Christ and that all men were to be his Disciples which
Miracles Prophecies c. The true difference between Dr. H. and Dr. O. in this matter is not whether the manner or the means of receiving spiritual things be signified by the word spiritually but whether it is designed to express those means which Dr. H. affirms viz. external Testimonies of divine Revelation or those which Dr. O. contends for viz. the internal and irresistible operations of the Spirit upon a mans minde But 2. I have shewn by the clear scope of the Apostle that the outward means are here to be understood This I see is our Author 's great trouble that Dr. H. supposes the true cause why the Natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit is because he will onely be led by his natural Reason and will not attend to Revelation and the outward means whereby revealed Doctrines may be proved whereas J. Owen's meaning is that he cannot receive them because the New Light is not yet created in his minde by an almighty act of the Spirit The truth of Dr. Hammond's sence and the absurdity of Dr. Owen's I have already shewn and shall onely adde this to help our Authors understanding viz. That the proposal of the external evidences of a divine Revelation made equally to those who rejected the Gospel with them who received it is no argument that they who rejected it could not receive it because their mindes were not enlightned by an omnipotent act of the Spirit For another reason may be given why they could not viz. the Apostles reason because they sought after mans Wisdom and would not admit of that for truth which was not proved by Philosophical discourse By the Authorities he brings to confirm his own exposition and to confront Dr. Hammond's we may guess how pertinent the rest are that his Book is stuffed withal He produceth that saying of St. Chrysostome A natural man is he who lives by the flesh and hath not his minde yet enlightned by the Spirit but only hath that connatural humane understanding which the Creator of all things hath endued the mindes of men withal This Exposition which he calls better than Dr. Hammond's is clearly to the same purpose with it for here is not a word about that irresistible Light which J. O. contends for and to be led only by the Light of humane Reason which are Dr. Hammond's words is perfectly the same with having only the connatural humane understanding c. The following passage of Chrysostome which he quotes is to the same effect I shall only adde that citation out of the same Writer which he brings in at the beginning of his Exposition The natural man is one that ascribes all to the reasonings of his own minde and doth not think that he stands in need of aid from above which is madness for God hath given the Soul that it should learn and receive what he bestows or what is from him and not suppose that it is sufficient to it self Eyes are beautiful and profitable but if they would see without light this beauty and power will not profit but hurt them and the Minde if it would see without the Spirit of God it doth but entangle it self This is clearly against him For that which God is here said to bestow is not that irresistible Light the Doctor speaks of but the Light of Revelation which I have been discoursing of i. e. revealed truths which St. Chrysostome saith the Soul is to learn but to learn that Light he talks of is nonsence St. Chrysostome is so far from supposing that it is impossible for a man to receive what Revelations God bestows unless the Almighty Power of God necessitateth him to do it that he saies God hath given the Soul that it might receive them when they are bestowed And he reckons it madness for a man to think he needs no divine Revelations and consequently to reject them when they are offered with sufficient evidence Now the only reason according to J. O. why he rejects them is because the Almighty work hath not been yet upon his minde If St. Chrysostome had thought so too he had been a mad man himself for accusing them of Madness that fail'd of doing what no Power less than almighty could enable them to do which is in effect to accuse them of Madness because they were not Almighty themselves St. Chrysostome's Similitude is very pertinent For as Light is to bodily Eyes so is Revelation to the Minde in respect of revealed Truths which are such as none but the Spirit of God could discover And therefore whoever refuseth to attend to his revelation of them must needs be ignorant of them and will finde himself entangled in many difficulties which he might have understood by hearkning to Revelation This Similitude St. Chrysostome useth elsewhere to the same purpose for he saith As no man with his naked eyes can learn the appearances in the heavens so the Soul alone cannot learn the things of the Spirit i. e. they are not to be learned by meer Natural Reason without the aid of Revelation I now leave the Reader to judge with what conscience this man could pretend the Authority of St. Chrysostome to countenance his own Exposition of this Text of St. Paul and this is all I shall say to the Doctor 's Authorities which any one may see are as convincing as his Reasons And now at length I desire him to take notice that it will be to no purpose for him to reject what I have to say concerning spiritual things contrary to his notions of them under pretence that I am a natural man for I thank God I am a Christian and so long as I have the Scriptures by me I enjoy the means of understanding what Revelations God hath made known to us by his Son For they contain those Doctrines which were proved by the demonstration of the Spirit and of Power These Doctrines are so far from being foolishness to me or rejected by me because they are not knowable by meer natural Reason that I should be guilty of inexcusable madness if I should not surrender up my belief unto them Though I could not possibly finde them out nor have known them unless they had been revealed yet being revealed I discern the great Wisdom and Goodness of God towards us in them still acknowledging that I know but in part and that there is a depth of Wisdom in the Mysteries of the Gospel which my understanding cannot reach But the truth of these Revelations I learn principally from the testimonies given to them and the sence of them not excluding other subordinate helps by comparing one Divine Revelation with another and the Doctor hath no other means to qualifie him for the discerning of these things aright but that new light which he pretends to but which the Apostle speaks never a word of and let him make his best advantage of it But if the Doctor be resolved to Cant on still in his own defence and
the proper sence But I do not see how so learned a man as Dr. Owen can excuse himself from dishonesty for making this construction of it which must appear ridiculous to any considering man However I hope the Reader will acknowledge that I have given a plain and reasonable account of the use of these Metaphors by shewing wherein the Similitude lies between the proper and figurative significations of them And hereby I may have helped our Author to conceive it a very possible thing that the Scriptures mean nothing more by those grand and Hyperbolical expressions as he calls them of being Regenerate c. then becoming a sincere Disciple of Christ which is his Adversaries notion of a Regenerate man Thus also I have shewn how far we may argue from these Scripture metaphors If any man can go further and finde out more Similitudes between the Metaphors and that which is meant by them I shall not be his Adversary provided he keeps himself within the bounds of Sense and Reason But to argue from the proper signification of any one or all these Metaphors to conclude something parallel in the state of a Believer to every thing which can properly be affirmed of them is to run upon such wilde and absurd consequences as any wise man would be asham'd to own and any good man would be afraid to fasten upon the Scriptures How our Author argues from them we shall see hereafter In the mean time we have proceeded thus far as to state the true notion of Regeneration SECT 10. Though I have as I conceive sufficiently proved that to be born again is to become a true Disciple of Christ yet for further confirmation and because it may be of some use to the ordinary Reader I shall make it plain that this notion is agreeable to the scope and designe of our Saviour's discourse to Nicodemus Joh. 3. which is the most famous place in the whole New Testament where this phrase is used It is one of the best ways of interpreting any difficult passage in Divine or Humane Authors to observe the designe of that whole discourse to which it belongs and then to fix such a meaning upon that passage as is apparently suitable to the scope of the Author if the words will bear that meaning That the Phrase of being Regenerate will bear that sence which I have assigned to it I have shewn and that it is the true sence thereof I have proved by clear Arguments from other Scriptures wherefore if I shew also that this sence of the Phrase is consonant to the plain scope of our Saviour in that discourse where he made the first mention of it that we read of nothing can be further desired to demonstrate that this indeed is the true meaning thereof The designe of our Saviour's discourse may easily be gathered from the plain passages of it and then it will appear to be this 1. To shew that faith in Christ and obedience to him were the means by which God had appointed to bring men to eternal Happiness 2. To shew the unreasonableness of the Jews who would not believe in him The former we finde vers 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life i. e. this is the way by which God hath determined to save Mankinde viz. by faith in his Son who was to be lifted up upon the Cross as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness a rude Salvage place and so fit to be the figure of that corrupt state of the World in which Christ came to die for us that whosoever believed in him should not perish but c. vers 14 15. Now this was so great a demonstration of God's Love to man thus to give his onely begotten Son that no man could hope to escape the anger of God who should refuse the benefit of this Sacrifice For though indeed God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved vers 17. yet he that believeth not is condemned already vers 18. is in a state to which condemnation belongs and that a more severe one for refusing so gratious an opportunity of Salvation as was now offered 2. Our Saviour shews the unreasonableness of those men that believed not and that by noting 1. The Evidence of that Truth which they disbelieved 2. The true cause of their unbelief The former he admonished Nicodemus of in these words Verily verily I say unto thee We speak that we do know and testifie that we have seen and ye receive not our testimony vers 11. i. e. Ye believe not my Doctrine concerning that onely way by which you must come to see the Kingdom of God although it be evidently true for this is that very Message which I bring you from God this is that Counsel and Decree of God which I come from him to testifie unto you that there is no other way but that Now this you acknowledge that I am a Teacher come from God for no man can do those Miracles that I do except God be with him v. 2. how strangely incredulous therefore are you that yet you will not believe me delivering that Doctrine which by these Testimonies of my coming from God I confirm For I prove that I have seen and known what I testifie I prove the truth of what I say by those Arguments that convince you that I am a Teacher come from God Hence we may probably gather the meaning of those words And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the Son of Man which is in heaven vers 13. to be this No man hath known the secret purposes of God concerning the way of saving Mankinde viz. by the death of his Son No man hath thus ascended into Heaven but he that is come from Heaven whom God hath sent to reveal this to you even he who now speaketh to you who am in Heaven who know the purposes and intentions of my Father concerning the way of Salvation This I take to be a more probable interpretation of this difficult place than that which supposeth our Saviour to speak here of his local ascension into Heaven afterward because 1. The words themselves seem not well able to bear the notion of a future ascension 2. As Grotius hath well shewn the phrase of ascending into Heaven is in other places of Scripture to be taken in the former sence viz. of gaining knowledge from God as in Prov. 30.3 4. And 3. if thus it is understood in this place then what our Saviour saith here hath a clear connexion with vers 11. where he rebuketh the Jews for not believing his Revelations taxing them of unreasonableness for it since he delivered nothing but what he had seen and known from God and also with the precedent verse where by the heavenly things our Saviour
unquainted withal And by this he shews that the practice of despising his opinions concerning Grace has not been taken up of late Now I will not say how old the practice has been of making every quarrel a man is concerned in equal to the Cause of those godly men whose sufferings are mentioned in the Scripture but 't is well enough known that 't is at least as old as that Faction which our Author hath espoused and whether this be not one branch of a proud inclination let sober men judge It has been often observed of these men how dear They and their Opinions are to themselves and the Doctor has here given you a good ordinary instance of it For if he had not been bewitch'd with self-conceit he had never made this absurd parallel for what had Abel or Isaac to do with his Cause If he had onely called us the seed of Cain and Ishmael without saying why who would have thought the reason had been our questioning whether men are snatch'd into a state of Grace by an irresistible power And yet this is his great quarrel against us concerning the manner of Conversion which here he pretends to explain I know he does more than insinuate and that more than once that we disown the very assistances of the Holy Spirit as I shall convince you in a fitter place but this you are to look upon as an effect of his rage which makes him foam out Calumnies against us without any discretion for he knows well enough that his Adversaries are not guilty of it as I shall shew you too from his own words and then I shall desire him to consider whether the Father of Lyes be not the Representative of such shameless Writers as he is an example of As to what he saith that such a work of God upon men as he contends for is exposed to derision if upon that account he compares his Adversaries to scoffing Ishmael I think he does them great wrong For let him if he can name any of his opinion in this matter who has debated the point with any appearance of Modesty and Sobriety and was answered with the least shew of Contempt But as for those of whom Dr. Owen is one that instead of answering the Arguments of their Adversaries complain that they are laughed at and do themselves fall upon them with the foulest reproaches as upon the Enemies of Christ it may be sometimes good to take down their haughty spirits and to render their arrogance contemptible lest others be encouraged to hope that any Cause may be carried by vapouring In my opinion it is a difficult undertaking to define in particular what is the manner and measure of the Holy Spirit 's Operations because I think the Scriptures have not particularly acquainted us what it is Let others who have better considered the thing enjoy the liberty of thinking otherwise and for my own part I shall with all thankfulness submit to further instruction But as for Dr. Owen I hope to make it appear that the Scriptures do not favour his determination of the Question which I shall the rather endeavour because I conceive this opinion that the Spirit worketh upon our mindes in an irresistible manner especially as he hath advanced it to be of dangerous consequence to the Souls of men In the mean time I shall lay down some Propositions the truth of which will I think be easily granted by all sober Christians from whence we may in general conclude what is the manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operations and the measure of their power not that I think even this were needful if our Author and those of his way had not fallen into a dangerous Mistake by venturing too far For that which has been already said seems to me to afford a sufficient foundation of Godliness and Comfort if all be not subverted again by their opinion of the Manner wherein we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit Now I think it will appear that those general Propositions wherein they agree with us concerning the Manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operations on our mindes are inconsistent with their particular definition of it And the first of them is this That 1. Faith and Repentance or Conversion to God together with Perseverance in Holiness are truely and properly the effects of God's Word revealed to us in the Doctrines of the Gospel Wherefore such is the manner of the Holy Spirit 's Operation in producing these Qualifications in our mindes that it hinders them not from being the Genuine effects of the Revelation of the Gospel but they ought still to be ascribed to that force and efficacy of those divine Truths which are contained in it whereby the Gospel is in it self a fit and proper means of working the Grace of God in the mindâ— of men Now it is very plain that the proper and natural power of the Gospel to produce these effects consists in the evidence of its Truth in the authority and excellency of its Laws and in the weightiness of its Promises and Threatnings and other motives to obedience Wherefore if Conversion be the proper effect of God's Word it follows that the Holy Spirit does 1. Onely co-operate to the producing of that effect and 2. In that manner as it may truely be affirmed to be an effect of those considerations which are propounded to us in the Gospel The truth of the Supposition is manifest from divers places of Scripture As for Faith St. Paul plainly tells us it comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Rom. 10.17 Thus upon the conversion of many Unbelievers it is said that the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed Acts 19.20 i. e. the testimonies which God gave to the truth of the Gospel convinced many that were in all appearance most likely to oppose it Hence St. Paul tells the Corinthians that in Christ Jesus he had begotten them through the Gospel i. e. by the preaching of the Gospel he had first brought them over to the faith of Christ. Furthermore our obedience is by St. Peter ascribed to the power of God's Word where he saith that we have great and precious promises given to us that by These we might be partakers of the divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust 2 Pet. 1.4 To the same purpose the Word of God is said to work effectually in those that believed 1 Thess. 2.13 i. e. by the force of those promises mentioned by St. Peter and other weighty considerations moving to holiness Finally our Regeneration is expresly ascribed to the Word of God for we are said to be born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever 1 Pet. 1.23 and our Spiritual improvement is attributed not long after to the same cause As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 Thus the increase of
Christian Virtue is ascribed both to the Holy Spirit and to the Word of God in that Prayer of St. Paul for the Colossians that they might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing being fruitful in every good work c. that is by the means of a fuller understanding of the Will of God Col. 1.9 10. And the co-operation of both these Causes for the producing of the same Effect is yet more plainly expressed in those words of our Saviour's Prayer for his Disciples Sanctifie them through thy TRVTH thy WORD is TRVTH where nothing can be more plain than this that the holiness of Believers is ascribed to the Operation of Truth upon their mindes viz. that Truth which is revealed in the Gospel Seing then that the Gospel is not onely in it self a proper means of converting the Unbeliever and the Disobedient of confirming and improving the sincere Convert but as you see the Graces of the Holy Spirit are those effects also which the Scriptures frequently ascribe to the weightiness of those Reasons and Considerations that are offered to our understandings by the Word of God We must be careful not to define the manner whereby the Holy Spirit worketh in the mindes of men to produce these Graces so as to deny them to be the Genuine and proper effects of divine Truths which is done by assigning such a manner of Operation to the Holy Spirit as must needs be inconsistent with ascribing Conversion to the Operation of Truth Wherefore it is too boldly done of Dr. Owen and his Party to affirm that Conversion is an effect of such an Operation of the Holy Spirit upon the minde as makes it impossible for a man not to be converted and withal that Conversion is impossible without such an irresistible Operation For 1. If a man must necessarily resist the whole strength of God's Word till Conversion be wrought in him by an irresistible action of the Spirit as these men teach then 't is plainly absurd to make Conversion to be an effect of God's Word For upon this Hypothesis it contributes no more to a man's conversion than the hurling of a Pebble does to the throwing down of a mighty Wall that is falling by the fury of the Cannon If as the Doctor saith the Will cannot make use of that Grace for conversion which it can refuse if also it can resist all kinde of Perswasions Reasons Arguments and Motives as he himself supposes and by consequence that Operation of the Spirit whereby Conversion is caused be irresistible What can be more evident than that Conversion must upon these terms be onely and wholly the effect of an irresistible power and not at all of Reasons and Motives To say that the Operations of the Spirit produce their effects irresistibly because they are joyned with the Word is to ascribe an irresistible Operation to the Word as well as to the Spirit or rather to make the irresistibleness to arise from the concurrence of both those Causes Now besides that upon this Hypothesis all men to whom the Gospel is made known would be converted seeing we have proved the ministration of the Gospel to be accompanied with the Operations of the Spirit in all that hear it Besides this I say these men do not place the irresistible force by which Conversion as they say is wrought in the concurrence of the Word and the Spirit but in the sole Operation of the Spirit Now that Conversion should at the same time be an effect of God's Word which as they say a man cannot but resist till he is converted and of such an Operation of the Spirit too as is altogether irresistible is to me as unintelligible as Transubstantiation For if it were onely said that 't is possible for a man to resist the Operations of Truth and withal granted that Conversion must as well be an effect of the truth of God's Word as of the Holy Spirit 's Operating in our mindes it would plainly follow that his Operations were resistible The reason is because where an Effect depends upon the concurrence of two Causes he that hath it always in his power to resist the force of one is at any time able to frustrate the other and consequently to hinder the effect Now they themselves grant and it is plain by daily experience that the Word of God may be resisted and heard in vain as it was even when preached in the demonstration of the Spirit and Power Wherefore when the Operations of the Spirit conspire with the power of the Word to convert a sinner if he can be obstinate against the latter he may also quench the former and then they are not irresistible Furthermore it may be said if Conversion be wrought irresistibly by the sole Operation of the Spirit then the Word which may be resisted is unnecessary But if the Word cannot but be resisted till the effect is wrought by another power that is invincible viz. that of the Spirit then 't is plain that the effect is owing onely to that power which is to render the whole Ministry of the Gospel utterly vain and useless and to contradict all those passages of Scripture which attribute our Conversion to the force of divine Truth But 2. It is further evident from the manner of their explaining this irresistible Operation that they exclude all the influence of God's Word from being a means of Conversion Dr. Owen tells us that the Holy Ghost is the immediate Author and cause of Regeneration and he is often putting us in minde that we are converted by an immediate Physical Operation of the Spirit which he endeavours to prove for many Pages together Now a Physical Operation he opposeth to Moral and thereby excludeth from it all use of any Reasons Arguments and Motives whatsoever as he doth industriously more than once Now what is more plain than that to ascribe Conversion to such an Operation as this is wholly to exclude the Word of God from being any way subordinate to that Grace whereby we are converted For although the Doctor tells us sometimes that he grants a Moral Operation of the Spirit and that he onely denies the concurrence of that with the Word to be the total cause of Conversion yet by his leave he does not make it so much as a partial cause For if this Physical Operation onely is that Grace which can remove all obstacles and overcome all oppositions and infallibly produce the effect intended as he speaks if this Operation doth not consist in the use of any motive whatsoever contained in the Word of God Finally if this Operation be the immediate cause of Conversion if nothing intervenes between this Operation and the Effect it is then plain I conceive that the Word of God is wholly excluded from being a means of Conversion for neither is the use of any
be effected but by a Physical Irresistible Operation which whether it can be called an Assistance I leave you to judge after you have considered these words which are your own The most effectual perswasions of the Holy Spirit for of them you were speaking cannot prevail with men in the state of Nature to convert themselves any more than Arguments can prevail with a blinde man to see or with a dead man to rise from the Grave and you must not forget that you make as irresistible an Operation necessary to Conversion as we suppose to be necessary for the raising of a dead Body Now you know 't is to no purpose to perswade a dead man to stir and by your Argument 't is to as little to perswade a man dead in Trespasses and Sins to Repent But would it not be also a most absurd thing to say that God assists a dead body to be alive again Whoever is said to assist another to do any thing is not supposed to do it all himself much less by an irresistible Power but the person that is assisted is supposed to contribute his own endeavour towards the thing Now a dead Body can do nothing towards its own Resurrection and therefore is incapable of being assisted to rise and if God raiseth it to life he must do all himself And do you not therefore make a Sinner incapable of being converted by the assistance of the Holy Spirit If you do not see this Consequence pray will you acknowledge your own plain words where you give us your sence of that saying of the Apostle ascribing the honour of all he did to the Grace of God Not I but the grace of God which was in me 1 Cor. 15.10 For thus you argue from thence Suppose now that God by his Grace doth no more but AID ASSIST and EXCITE the Will in its actings that he doth not effectually work all the Gracious actings of our Souls in all our duties that is that he doth not do all himself the Proposition would hold on the other hand not Grace but I seeing the principal relation of the effect is unto the next and immediate Cause and thence hath its denomination These are your own words wherein you do not onely deny Regeneration but which is much stranger even the Good which regenerate men do to be the effect of divine Assistance and you deny this in such plain terms that you allow them not to be the next cause of the good they do as if S. Paul had meant that in truth he had not laboured at all though he plainly said I laboured abundantly And thus you plainly make Believing Repenting and Labouring not to be so much as our own acts but purely the acts of God so that we do not believe and obey but according to you God does all this for us not so much as making us to believe and obey as 't is impossible he should without making us the next and immediate cause of our doing so Can you read these words of yours without blushing if you remember your crafty Preface where you were all for the Aids and Assistances of the Spirit and put your self into such a combustion to defend them as if Pelagius were risen from the dead You knew well enough that we do believe God doth AID and ASSIST us by his Grace and that no body but your self and such as you denies Conversion and Perseverance to be the effects of divine Assistance onely you strained a point with your Conscience and cast the Odium of so detestable a Doctrine upon us in your Preface to make all the reviling Speeches you bestow on us in your Book go down the better with your Readers But this Artifice of yours is not confined to the Preface but used also in divers places of your Book I shall give you but one instance of it at present In the fifth Chapter of the second Book you pretend to reconcile the usefulness of the Commands Threatnings Promises and Exhortations of the Scripture with the promised Aids of the Spirit and ascribing all that is good in us to the Grace of God For this you say is the principal difficulty wherewith some men seek to entangle and perplex the Grace of God Who you mean by some men your Followers and we understand well enough but you know your Adversaries do not so much as believe that there is any difficulty at all in reconciling the assistances of Grace with the usefulness of Motives and then they cannot seek to entangle the Grace of God with this difficulty Now this is your way very often when you talk of the Objections that are made against supposing the Grace by which we are converted to be irresistible you make it your business to shew that these Objections do not lie against saying that the Operations of the Spirit are Aids and Assistances as here in this place you say If there be any opposition between the Commands of Duty and the Promises of Grace it is either because the nature of man is not meet to be commanded or because it needs not to be assisted and then you say very well that what the Holy Spirit doth in us he doth by us and our duty is to apply our selves unto his commands according to the conviction of our mindes and his work it is to enable us to perform them Very good All this we heartily believe but now the Doctrine we seek to entangle by the fore-mentioned difficulty is that men cannot be converted but by such an almighty Operation as that which made us out of nothing and will hereafter raise our dead bodies to Life And now I cannot understand why you should so often attempt to disentangle the Doctrine of the Aids of Grace from the former Objection which does not lie against it but because you have a minde to perswade the world that some men say we can keep the Commands of God without the help of his Grace Indeed in one place you apply the Objection as it ought to be viz. against your own Doctrine and I intend to let you see shortly that you have not taken it off but this is an argument that you had no other meaning in applying it wrong and so changing the state of the Question between us but to make the most odious representation of us you could devise And now I take may leave of you for a while wishing that you may hereafter write with the clearness of a Doctor the good temper of a Gentleman and the sincerity of a Christian and then we shall be very forward to give you that respect which is due to your abilities To sum up all that hath been said in this Chapter the Holy Spirit of God doth in that manner work his Graces in us that they are still the genuine effects of the Evidence and the motives of the Gospel of the natural use of our Faculties of Understanding and Will and of our own Care and